Updated 10:19 pm, Thursday, October 17, 2013

Connecticut ranks last per capita among the 50 states in terms of housing permits in the past decade, creating headaches for home buyers searching for the right home to meet their needs at the right price.

"The problem is supply. We don't have enough. We don't have the housing we need," said David Fink, policy director of The Partnership for Strong Communities. "More supply will bring prices down, and you have to put the housing where you need it."

In Fairfield County, baby boomers are looking for affordable alternatives to living in their single family homes, while younger people are looking for affordable housing to live close to work, according to Fink, who took the occasion of the CT Housing Coalition's annual conference Thursday, attended by housing advocates and state housing officials at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.

"Fairfield County has the most expensive housing in the state, and it doesn't have the array of housing that people are demanding," Fink said.

But several municipalities in southwest Connecticut are addressing the issue with the help of the partnership, receiving $20,000 Home Connecticut grants to study ways to promote affordable, energy efficient residences near transportation centers or downtown centers.

Brookfield, Milford and Ridgefield have received the grants funded by the state Department of Housing, Fink said, adding they want housing within easy reach of shopping, dining and transportation.

"In Fairfield County, baby boomers want something smaller and affordable," he said. "You've got to get towns to do it differently than they've done it. Towns have to stop and say we have to have all the housing options. Then they have to zone for it. Towns have to be proactive, not reactive."

Young people also are seeking housing closer to work in cities like Stamford, he said, crediting the city its affordable housing requirement, which tells developers that some of the units in their projects must be "affordable."

"Young people are getting out of college with debt of $25,000," Fink said. "Those people aren't getting mortgages right away. They want to be downtown. They don't want a white picket fence."

Fairfield County businesses are impacted by high housing prices, Fink said, because many workers can't afford to live in the region and are unwilling to commute.

Two in five Connecticut households -- half of renters and a third of owners -- spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, impacting their ability to spend at stores and restaurants, according to Betsy Crum, executive director of the Connecticut Housing Coalition.

"The problems in the housing markets are so significant that inaction is not an option," she said. "We have the tools and resources to create strong, vibrant communities with room for everyone, regardess of income and we owe it to our state to work together toward that goal."

The Stamford-based Housing Development Fund, which serves Fairfield, Litchfield and New Haven counties, works with 13 banks in the region to provide advice and financing to first homebuyers.

"We definitely have seen more interest in Danbury and Bridgeport," said Jaclynn Alves, homeownership counselor, who attended the event with Deborah MacKenzie, director of counseling. "We are seeing a movement toward single-family homes now that they are more affordable. We're seeing also an increase in multi-family homes."